Noncompete and Trade Secrets

Overview

BakerHostetler's National Noncompete and Trade Secrets team of nearly 40 attorneys has deep experience handling all aspects of the legal issues that arise when employees move between competitive firms. Our extensive experience also extends to handling non-compete and trade secret issues arising from the acquisition and sale of businesses, as well as from other business transactions, including the preparation of executive employment/consulting agreements.

We represent all parties involved in employee movement matters: employers hiring individual executives and management teams or retaining non-employee advisors; organizations in competitive environments when confronted by individual and group defections; and individuals or groups moving between organizations. We also represent all parties involved in various business transactions in which non-compete and trade secret issues are involved.

We recognize the time-sensitive nature of employee movement issues and related business transactions, and our national footprint, with offices throughout the country, enables us to respond to any issue at any time.

We work with organizations on a proactive basis, whether it is devising strategies to on-board key personnel or counseling management and executives on the development of workforce stability programs and other methods designed to protect the organization's non-patentable trade secrets, customer information and other competitive elements. Our team works closely with attorneys from our Intellectual Property, Business and Tax groups and we frequently collaborate with our interdisciplinary Executive Compensation practice team.

With that breadth of knowledge and insight, our attorneys negotiate, draft and defend and enforce all types of restrictive covenants, including non-compete, non-solicitation and non-disclosure agreements; executive and key employee employment agreements; deferred compensation plans; change-in-control and separation agreements; and equity-award and stock-option plans and agreements.
Handling all aspects of these arrangements—from conceptualization to defense and enforcement—enables the team to appreciate the nuances involved, identify practical approaches and better understand each company's priorities and concerns.

How do our clients benefit?

We have developed a full suite of services and strategies to help organizations either limit the risks when seeking to avoid the effects of restrictive covenants during the on-boarding of a competitor’s employees or, on the other hand, to create restrictive covenants and other agreements that protect an organization’s overall competitive interests against unfair competition and the loss of proprietary information and trade secrets when confronted with employee departures.

Corporate Counsel® and The American Lawyer magazines "Go-to Law Firm” for Labor & Employment by general counsel (2013)

Workforce Management Magazine: Top Employment Law Firms

The Lawdragon/Human Resource Executive list of the Nation's Top Employment Attorneys includes three members of the team in their Top 100 list, with one additional attorney named among the nation's top 20 labor lawyers.

Florida Trend “Legal Elite"

Numerous partners have been certified as employment law specialists by their respective state bar associations.